Tuesday, July 2, 2013

I still don't have a camera that takes decent photos, so I'm bringing back a "semi" tutorial I created back in April, 2010 for Tea Tuesday.

The month April should have been an indication that I was planning to show ways you can recycle, upcycle, repurpose, reuse, renew objects
destined for the trash. I'm sure (if you've been around my blog at all)
you are aware of my love/hate relationship with plastic. You've heard
me rant about it before. However, until the packaging industry catches
up to the consumer's needs and pollution free wrapping, we will have
plastic. So, that's why I decided to add a little plastic to Tea Tuesday.

Plastic I love to hate includes plastic lids. My mission was to make a
stencil, so I hoped I would love the outcome. My plan was to glue an
image to the plastic, then cut the stencil out using my image as the
guide, rather than having to redraw the image onto the plastic lid.
I wasn't sure this would work since I'm craft knife challenged, but it was
the only way I knew how to cut the plastic, since scissors could stretch
the plastic and ruin the stencil. Now it's time to walk you through the process I went through.

All plastic lids have a raised circle in the center. It doesn't matter
the brand or quality, they all have them. We'll have to contend with it
when making our stencil if we want our stencil to actually lay flat.
So take that raised hump, caused by the injection molding process, into
account when you plan your design.

I spent one entire afternoon drawing this simple cup to honor Tuesday Tea. I knew my design had a lot of problems, because I simply don't know how to draw, but it was mine, so I had to live with it. Please note that anything BLACK in this image was removed from the plastic to make the stencil. What you see in black will be what you get when you use the stencil.

I cut the outer ring. You need some incredibly sharp scissors to cut
that ring. If they are even the slightest bit dull, they will tear and
stretch the plastic. If you don't believe me, check the upper part of
the "circle" above.

I put a black dot in the center hump and got out the Wacky Tac, given
to my by my friend Sally, who shops on QVC, the only place I know you can buy
this repositionable glue made specifically for scrapbooking projects.
The plan was to cover the "hump" anywhere in the tea area. It had the
most material that can be cut away from the plastic lid.

Next I totally saturated the back side of the drawing

and prepared to wait at least four hours for the glue to dry.

This is what the circle looked like after I glued the drawing to the circle later that day in preparation for What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday.

The next Tuesday I started playing with my now cut stencil and some fabric spray paint I received in order to write a tutorial on the paint.

If you compare the drawing above to the cut stencil, you will note I was not as ambitious with the details of the coffee cup stencil as I
originally sketched it. However, I was pleased to have managed to cut
it out at all. The first thing I did was lay my plastic cup stencil on a
piece of clean-up fabric from a flour resist dyeing session.

I apparently didn't get the stencil placed properly, because instead of
an image of a coffee cup, there was just a blob of paint.

It happened every time I used the stencil with that paint.

Then I got the bright idea to use black paint around the stencil on a dried tea bag. That was an even worse disaster. Remember how I've always said I can't draw? This only reinforces my inability to create even the simplest of items or objects.

But, in the end, I still have the stencil, the wooden block and a tea pot cut from card stock I used as a mask, and later as a coaster.

Have a great Tea Tuesday. I want to welcome Patty home from her trip to Britain and Ireland. I can't wait to see what she has planned to show us with her traveling tea cup. I also hope your art and tea (or any other drink you choose) make you smile today. Please leave a link if you are drinking along with me.

11
thoughtful remarks:

Good Tuesday morning dear Elizabeth I enjoyed reading your tutorial today and was pleasantly surprised to see your warm welcome at the end...so nice of you...thank you!

We left the saucer at home and gave the traveling tea cup a good workout that's for sure.

Thought of you friends all along the way...tea is definitely part of the culture in the UK served in teapots piping hot just like I like it. Eventho we took skads of photos there are some things I wish I had taken more pics of.

Unlike the rest of us, you always point out the things that don't quite go to plan... it is so refreshing! :)I think I would pass on the plastic lid and head for the chipboard, probably not as good a material for a template but much easier to cut!!

I've never had much luck with stencils either-not patient enough to cut them, and the paint runs underneath the stencil creating a mess...maybe not the right kind of paint? anyway, I do like the results of your work!

Bleubeard and I welcome you

Art, including the journey, background techniques, new experiments, photos, failures, and successes will be shared on this site. I have removed my e-mail address until such time as I can get it to work again. Thank you for understanding. You can always leave a note on my blog and I will visit you.

Please check out my Previous Collaborations link above to see what projects I have been involved in over the past seven years. Current and ongoing projects only are shown below.

Occasionally, Silent Sunday will showcase photos of my home, neighborhood, or community. A picture is often worth a thousand words.